American Go E-Journal » 2013 » October

Twenty American Go Association members turned out for the AGA ratings tournament held in the Twin Cities (MN) this past weekend. “We were extremely pleased with the turnout,” reports Tournament Director Aaron Broege. The players ranged in strength from 3 dan to 19k. Leading the tournament with at least three wins each were Michael Albert 14k, Mark Gerads 10k and Nqua Xiong 3k. Players with “notable endurance for playing the most games” were Bo Hessburg 3k, 6 games; Matt Mayer 4k, 5 games and Nqua Xiong 3k, 5 games. photo: Peter Hansmeier 3d playing against Peter Nelson 3d; Hansmeier won by just 1.5 points. photo by Aaron Broege

AGA On-Line Games are off to a promising start since opening on October 1. “This program offers players an opportunity to play seriously but with a minimum of formality with a wide range of players of different strengths and styles,” says organizer Bob Gilman. “The simuls with AGA volunteers 4 dan and above offer a chance to test yourself and to see techniques and board vision that you may not ordinarily see in your games.” Registration remains open. For the self-paired tournament, there are 50 players now registered, with the following distributions: 1d-9d: 10; 1k-5k: 20; 6k-10k: 7; 11k+: 10; no tournament rating yet assigned: 3.

Tthrough October 26th, 37 players have participated in simuls with AGA volunteers ranked 4 to 7 dan. The simuls are held in the AGA Community Room on KGS. Upcoming simuls are posted in the AGA events calendar. The full schedule is available here.

The 40th Annual London Open Go Congress will take place December 28-December 31 at the International Student House in London. The top three places will receive cash prizes and additional prizes will be offered to the winners of the Lightning and Pair Go tournaments. For players who register before December 15, the entry fee is 47 GBP. Students receive a 5 GBP discount and juniors (under 18) can play for 27 GBP. Players must register before December 15 to receive these prices as the fees will increase for players who register on or after December 15. Additionally, all players can receive discounted rates should they choose the International Students House for their accommodations. Players who stay at ISH will also receive a continental breakfast voucher and free wifi. To register or for more information including the full schedule, rules, and current registered players, visit the official London Open Go Congress website.— Annalia Linnan; for complete listings, check out the European Tournament Calendar; photo courtesy of London Open Go Congress

Players have until this Friday, November 1st to register for the upcoming Pro Qualification Tournament on KGS, scheduled for November 9, 10, 16 and 17. The event is open to US and Canadian citizens who meet a minimal residency requirement and have either an AGA rating or stable KGS rank of 5d or higher. Competitors should also be members of AGA or CGA. The winner will be invited to participate in the pro selection tournament in Los Angeles Jan. 2-8, receiving an $800 travel subsidy. Players can register for the tournament here. Upon registration players should also submit a copy of their US or Canadian passport. The residency requirement is that players have lived in the US or Canada for at least three of the last six years or else obtain a waiver from the AGA president based on their time overseas being temporary and for the purpose of education, go study or an overseas posting. Anyone with questions about the tournament should contact Karoline Burrall Li at tournaments@usgo.org. Anyone with questions about pro selection or the residency requirement should contact Okun at president@usgo.org.

Slovenia: The 2013 Slovenian Championship finished October 20 in Fiesa with Gregor Butala 5d in first, Leon Matoh 5d in second, and Timotej Suc 3d in third. Norway: Also on October 20, Micael Svensson 1d bested Jakob Bing 3d at the 2013 Norwegian Championship in Oslo while Paal Sannes 3d placed third. Hungary: Dominik Boviz 4d (left) won the Visegrad Countries International Go Tournament in Budapest on October 20. Renato Tolgyesi 1d took second and Gyorgy Gsizmadia 4d came in third.– Annalia Linnan, based on reports from EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news

Beumgeon (Evan) Cho defeated Zhi Yuan (Andy) Liu in an edge-of-the-seat nailbiting Round 5 victory on Sunday to win the 2013 Cotsen Open. The thrilling last-round contest between the two undefeated players — Liu was going for a bi-coastal sweep after winning the Gotham Open earlier this month in New York City — drew a crowd in the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles as well as online where observers watched Myungwan Kim 9P’s live analysis of the game. In third place was Eric Lui, Won Sik Lee took 4th place, Calvin Sun 5th and Andrew Lu 6th. Santa Monica won the $1,000 Club Champion prize, Orange County was second and Tucson third. In other division results, Anders Kierulf won Division A (4d-3d), Daniel Alvira won Division B (2d-1d), Jung Kang won Division C (1-5k), Gary Huang won Division D (6-11k) and Charles Polkiewicz won Division E (12k+). Click here for the final crosstab and see below for game records. photos: at right: Cho (center) with tournament sponsor Eric Cotsen (right) and AGA President Andy Okun; at left: the round 5 game. report by Chris Garlock; photos by Chrissy Hampton.

Before a single stone had been played at this weekend’s Cotsen Open in Los Angeles, two announcements drew sustained and resounding applause from the 140 gathered players. First was tournament sponsor Eric Cotsen’s confirmation that “funding has been secured for the next four Cotsen Opens,” guaranteeing the return of the popular annual event through 2017. The second was Asian Go Federation (AGF) President Dae-won Suh’s announcement that plans are in the works for a Korean Baduk Cup in spring 2014, to be held, like the Cotsen, at the Korean Cultural Center. “I wish you all the best of luck,” said a beaming Suh. “Now let’s play baduk!” And with that, a day of fierce competition commenced over three hotly-contested rounds, broken only by a lunch break for free tacos from the food truck conveniently parked in the KCC parking lot, enabling players to enjoy a tasty lunch beneath clear Southern California skies before returning to the boards inside. Hundreds who could not attend the tournament followed the action live on KGS where the E-Journal team broadcast top boards, with pro commentaries on selected games. Leading the field are Beomgeun Cho, Andy Liu, Won Sik Lee and Eric Lui, all with 3-0 records (Click here for the tournament crosstab and see below for game records). The tournament continues Sunday with a pro-pro game on KGS starting at 8a PST between Yilun Yang 7p and Wang Qun 8p, followed by the final two rounds of the Cotsen. photo collage: top right: Haijin Lee 3p reviews a player’s game; bottom right: spectators gather around one of the top boards; bottom left: two masseuses — one of the Cotsen’s unique features — work their way through the field; top left: longtime go author Richard Bozulich (at left, talking to AGA President Andy Okun) dropped by for a brief visit Saturday morning while in town from Japan on a business trip. photo at left: Cotsen staff play a casual game.

It takes a lot to get the guys at the Korean Go Club in Los Angeles to stop playing. Their moves are fierce and the concentration is total. But on Friday, they put down their stones and looked up from their boards as Dae-won Suh, President of the Asian Go Federation (AGF) and Vice President of the Korean Amateur Baduk Association (KABA) and Dalsoo Kim, Secretary General of the AGF announced that the club — an AGA chapter — will be the first overseas branch of KABA.

The United States was chosen because of the ongoing collaboration between the Korean and American go communities, especially last year’s inauguration of the US pro system through the Tygem-AGA Pro Tournament. “This is just the fifth professional go system in the world,” said an obviously proud Suh, who’s also a former Korean Ambassador. “We very much hope it will prosper.” And Los Angeles was selected because “it has the largest Korean population outside of our country,” he added. Another connection is the Korean Cultural Center, which this weekend is hosting the Cotsen Open for the second year. “We’re very glad that the KCC can host this tournament again this year and hope that it will help discover new talents,” Suh said.

Ambassador Suh also noted that “there were lots of Korean professionals at this year’s U.S. Go Congress,” adding that the Korean Baduk Association (the professional player’s association in Korea) and KABA “have committed to supporting the U.S. go scene,” including training like that offered by Myung-wan Kim 9P, who beamed quietly in the back of the Korean Go Club as the officials made their remarks. “All of this, we hope, will help promote go in the United States,” said Suh.

AGA President Andy Okun welcomed the move and called KGC organizer Gary Choi “a real friend to the go community and the AGA for a very long time,” and thanked the club’s players “for being so welcoming when we come here and for supporting AGA events like the Cotsen.” Okun also extended an enthusiastic welcome and congratulations to KABA’s new branch, saying that “LA is the right place” for this step.

Korean Consul General Yeonsung Shin closed the brief ceremony — which was also attended by Hajin Lee 3p, Chosun Daily reporter Hongryal Lee, Cyberoro reporter Kim Soo Kwang, KABA staffer Jong-geun Lee and 2015 Go Congress organizer Josh Larson — by announcing that he and Ambassador Suh are interested in working with the AGA to organize a Consul’s Cup and Shin, Suh and Okun could later be seen discussing plans. But first Okun was invited to take on Kim Younghwan 9p — the “Younghwan Wizard” — who quickly demonstrated his ability to give more handicap stones to amateur players than any other pro, and still win.– report/photos by Chris Garlock

“I am wondering if there is a typographical error in last week’s ‘Capture Go’ story, when Mr. Jayaraman says, ‘We call the game we teach go, not Capture Go,” writes veteran organizer Jean DeMaiffe, a graduate of Yasuda Sensei’s International Go Teacher Certification Program. “Surely the organizers are going to call their game ‘Capture Go’ or better still, as Yasuda-sensei calls it, ‘The Capture Game’. I have taught ‘The Capture Game’ as part of my Go curriculum for years and can readily attest to the importance of clearly differentiating between the goals of the two games. After learning to play capture, most of my students consistently need to be refocused on capturing territory, rather than just stones. Thanks for your help in setting one or more of us straight on this issue.”
“Our curriculum is meant to serve less as an introduction to regulation go than as an in-depth introduction to the underlying principles of the game,” responds Jayaraman. “These include the basic rules of stone placement, liberties and capturing, as well as the traditions of the game like etiquette, problem study, and history. Our use of the term ‘go’ is also rooted in some practical considerations. Our program is primarily focused on equipping teachers with no prior knowledge of go with the skills, supplies, and support to be able to introduce their students to the game. In many cases these classes may be the only time they ever hear of the game. For those whose interest in regular go is sparked, however, they and their families will be familiar enough with the game to seek out more information about it, and hopefully utilize the existing resources in our community, like the Memphis Go Club or the introductory regulation go workshops the Confucius Institute at the University of Memphis offers. For these students who pursue it, the precise name of the specific rule variation that first set them on the path of go will probably be inconsequential.”